An ‘Up Nort’ Repor’
Enough is Enough
DAN MOERICKE
Just enough for dinner.
Tom Newcomb was a Northwoods fishing legend. Son of the much revered Dr. Kate Newcomb, he was born and raised on the Rice Creek Flowage just west of Boulder Junction. Dr. Newcomb is renowned in the Boulder Junction area for spearheading the construction of much needed medical facilities. Her son Tom guided much his whole life (starting at the age of 12) and was inducted into the Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame.
Fortunately for me, Tom Newcomb was my junior high science teacher. He was also a role model and, as I grew into adulthood, a friend. Sharing time in a boat with Tom was always a treat and a learning experience. He once told me that sometimes he felt like he could will the fish to bite. That was well before Star Wars, so nobody had ever even heard about using “the force.”
It’s been well over 30 years ago now that some friends and I spent a day on the Rice Creek Flowage with Tom as he guided us to some nice walleyes. I don’t remember exactly how many we caught or how big they were, but what I do remember was Tom declaring at some point, “I think we’ve killed enough today.” And, with that, we happily pulled into shore to clean our fish and rehydrate with some cold fermented malt beverages.
But the words “I think we’ve killed enough today” have always stuck with me.
Enough. There’s a concept that some folks just never seem to come to grips with. How unfortunate it is for them and our natural resources for their inability to be satisfied with anything less than a limit. Sometime even a limit isn’t enough. Maybe it’s a limit in the morning and another one in the afternoon. Or, maybe it’s catching limits from the same place day after day until there just aren’t any more fish to be had. Whatever the case, it’s never enough.
Growing up, catching a limit was always the goal. My parents lived through the depression and I suspect that the compulsion to perpetually have a well stocked freezer was engrained as a result of the experience. As I amble rapidly into old age, there is no such compulsion for me anymore. Maybe I’m just getting lazy, but I really don’t want to clean more than a dozen panfish at one sitting. Actually, half a dozen is enough for a nice meal for my wife and me.
I’m not preaching and I’m not condemning anyone for catching and keeping a limit now and then. But Tom Newcomb was a smart man and a true conservationist. When he said, “I think we’ve killed enough today,” I think that’s something worth putting in your repertoire. Know when to say when. Enough is enough.
Just sayin.’
Dan Moericke lives, hunts, and fishes in Wisconsin’s great Northwoods. He had a cane pole placed in his hands at the age of three and he’s relished every hook set since. He is blessed with an understanding wife, a great group of friends, and a family who all enjoy the outdoors as much as he does. His stories are mostly true.